Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi confronted Vice Dean Xuan about taking his book and used his sensory ability to convince her he had recorded her actions. The chapter ended with Vice Dean Xuan shaken by his apparent foresight, while Xu Yi privately revealed how he had actually tracked her.

• Xu Yi told Vice Dean Xuan that he wanted her to return something she had taken from his room.
• Vice Dean Xuan panicked and denied taking anything, though she realized he meant the book she had found and read.
• Xu Yi recounted how his spiritual energy had blown the book to her feet and claimed a Ruyi Pearl had recorded her reading it.
• Vice Dean Xuan challenged his story, but Xu Yi named the passage she had read and explained that she had left through the window.
• Vice Dean Xuan's confidence crumbled, while Xu Yi privately reflected that his sensory ability—not a Ruyi Pearl—had let him follow her actions.

Xu Yi broke the Blood Oath and secured Vice Dean Xuan’s agreement to stay, but her unexpectedly open attitude left him uneasy. The next day, the South Courtyard confirmed that she would take him as her personal disciple in alchemy, and Xu Yi sat with her before the academy’s senior figures.

• Vice Dean Xuan admitted Xu Yi had planted the Ruyi Pearl, then decided to stay and asked him for more booklets and poetry.
• Jiang Fei and Duan Tiandai arrived in the snow-blossom woods and praised Xu Yi for winning Vice Dean Xuan over.
• Xu Yi worried that Vice Dean Xuan’s openness had made her harder to predict, especially after she asked for smutty books in public.
• News spread that Vice Dean Xuan would take Xu Yi as her personal disciple in alchemy, and the South Courtyard committee officially confirmed it.
• Xu Yi sat across from Vice Dean Xuan in Minglun Hall before the South Courtyard’s senior figures, while the dean was absent.

Xuan Lengyan made Xu Yi her personal disciple, leaving him unable to resist without abandoning the Golden Core Academy. After Qiu Wa returned with strange new abilities, she revealed what Xuan had said about changing how she viewed Xu Yi, helping him understand why his schemes had failed.

• Xuan Lengyan completed the ceremony and told Xu Yi to call her Master or Mentor, explaining that she wanted to guide him and use his cleverness to deal with rivals.
• Xu Yi went to a deserted lakeshore, where Qiu Wa suddenly appeared despite his protective formation and described how eating two golden fruits had transformed her.
• Qiu Wa told Xu Yi she could pass through formations, travel underground, and merge into wooden objects, and that she had secretly watched him and Xuan Lengyan.
• Qiu Wa revealed that Xuan Lengyan had said Xu Yi was no longer a problem once she changed her perspective, and Xu Yi realized her decision to take him as a disciple had rendered his schemes useless.

Xu Yi learned that he had been appointed Vice Dean Xuan’s personal disciple and moved from Dormitory 137 to a secluded courtyard in the South Campus. He realized Vice Dean Xuan had arranged the private quarters with Qiu Wa in mind, while Qiu Wa hinted that Xuan Lengyan came from a powerful Immortal Palace.

• Xu Yi took Qiu Wa to the Exchange Hall, where she appeared to choose toys, then returned with her to Dormitory 137.
• Jiang Fei told Xu Yi and the others that Xu Yi had become Vice Dean Xuan’s personal disciple, delighting the gathered students and enraging Wang Minglun by proxy.
• Supervisor Hong announced that Xu Yi would move to Courtyard Seventy-Six in the South Campus and escorted him there.
• After Supervisor Hong left, a maid delivered Vice Dean Xuan’s instructions for Xu Yi to focus on his studies and avoid trouble.
• Xu Yi sealed the courtyard with wards, inspected its private refining room, and realized Vice Dean Xuan had chosen the place because Qiu Wa needed privacy.
• Qiu Wa appeared in the refining room and told Xu Yi that Sister Xuan was a powerful figure who might come from an Immortal Palace.

Xu Yi settled into his new life as Xuan Lengyan’s disciple and made rapid progress studying alchemy with Qiu Wa’s help. While experimenting to isolate the He Ye Fruit’s Earth Spirit Quality, he saw it turn into pure black and was left stunned.

• Qiu Wa showed Xu Yi the spiritual candies Xuan Lengyan had given her, then persuaded Xuan Lengyan to take her away for the night.
• Over the next three months, Xu Yi used his access to the Gold Register and Xuan Lengyan’s guidance to improve his alchemy studies.
• Xu Yi recorded spectra for 108 medicinal ingredients and began an experiment to isolate Earth Spirit Quality from He Ye Fruit.
• After more than ten failed attempts, Xu Yi isolated the Earth Spirit Quality while Qiu Wa slept nearby.
• When Xu Yi tried to wake Qiu Wa, she sent a gust of air into the carefully protected substance, which instantly became pure black.

Xu Yi discovered that the five Element Spirit Qualities each led in twenty-one of the 108 medicinal properties and spent 113 days developing a hypothesis supported by experiments. After collapsing from exhaustion and sleeping for four days and five nights, he woke with his completed papers safe beside him.

• Xu Yi identified a repeating pattern in the spectra: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth each led in twenty-one medicinal properties, while he guessed at the identities of three remaining attributes.
• Xu Yi decided to support his discovery with experimental examples before submitting it as a Gold Register entry.
• Xu Yi worked in seclusion for three months, and Xuan Lengyan grew concerned after Qiu Wa told her he had barely slept.
• On the 113th day, Xu Yi finished his papers, laughed, and collapsed; Xuan Lengyan carried him to bed, where he slept for four days and five nights.
• Xu Yi woke, found his papers, and learned from Qiu Wa that he had clung to Xuan Lengyan while unconscious; he promised to take Qiu Wa out to play.

Xu Yi took Qiu Wa into the mountains, where he fought the White Giant Eagle twice and discovered that soaking in the spiritual spring let him break through thirteen hidden apertures. After he defeated the eagle and woke in the spring, Qiu Wa reported that it had disappeared.

• Xu Yi took Qiu Wa out of the academy and flew with her to a snowy mountain, where he found the White Giant Eagle bathing in a spring.
• Xu Yi transformed into a raging ape and fought the White Giant Eagle until it fled, then collapsed from exhaustion and recovered in the spiritual spring.
• Xu Yi swallowed over a hundred Origin Pills in the spring and broke through thirteen hidden apertures in succession.
• Xu Yi sensed the White Giant Eagle returning and fought it again, eventually strangling it unconscious before collapsing himself.
• Xu Yi woke in the spring and asked Qiu Wa about the eagle, but she returned to say it had disappeared.

Xu Yi opened all one hundred and eight hidden apertures and received a new cultivation method, the Wrathful Chi Aspect, from the Nine Revolutions Saint Creation Art. After studying it overnight, he visited Xuan Lengyan to ask for access to the Scripture Pavilion, where she hinted that she had a problem she wanted his advice on.

• After exhausting himself in the spirit spring, Xu Yi opened his final hidden apertures, though he saw none of the expected signs of entering Spiritual Root Layer Two.
• Xu Yi discovered that the Nine Revolutions Saint Creation Art had recorded the Wrathful Chi Aspect, a divine ability that required a Nine Spirit Sacred Blood Pill.
• Xu Yi returned to Courtyard Seventy-Six with Qiu Wa, who soon left to stay with the Vice-Dean, and he later spent half the night with his friends from Dormitory 137.
• Xu Yi studied the Wrathful Chi Aspect overnight and marveled at its potential, though most of its required Precious Medicines were unfamiliar to him.
• Xu Yi visited Xuan Lengyan and asked her to help him obtain high-level access to the Scripture Pavilion, while she considered asking him for advice on a problem of her own.

Xuan Lengyan asked Xu Yi to devise a way for her to attend Miss Su’s birthday banquet without losing face, and he proposed that she bring an invented distinguished gentleman. She then offered to teach Xu Yi a divine art to improve his flawed cultivation method, making him swear to keep its source secret.

• Xuan Lengyan told Xu Yi she had to attend Miss Su’s birthday banquet without losing face, and Xu Yi reasoned that she wanted to see a man there.
• Xu Yi suggested that Xuan Lengyan bring a distinguished gentleman to support her, then proposed inventing a companion when she said her acquaintances all knew one another.
• Xuan Lengyan approved Xu Yi’s plan and offered to guide him in cultivation before he left.
• Xuan Lengyan criticized the flaws in Xu Yi’s cultivation method and offered to teach him a divine art if he swore to keep its source secret.
• Xu Yi swore the oath and eagerly accepted Xuan Lengyan’s offer.

Xu Yi learned the Nine Star Flowing Fire Technique from Xuan Lengyan and mastered its core and full methods in three days. After recovering in the spirit spring, he faced the White Giant Eagle and its Demon Kun ally, then unleashed his new fire technique against the Demon Kun.

• Xuan Lengyan taught Xu Yi the Nine Star Flowing Fire Technique, and he quickly grasped everything she could explain.
• Xu Yi cultivated in the refining room and used his spiritual root to comprehend the technique’s core mysteries, mastering them in three days.
• Xu Yi traveled beyond the safety zone and fully mastered the technique through hours of study and testing.
• Xu Yi rested in the spirit spring, where the White Giant Eagle arrived with a Demon Kun as its ally.
• The Demon Kun charged at Xu Yi, who struck it with three enormous fireballs and caused a series of explosions.

Xu Yi defeated the Demon Kun, gathered more information about the ingredients for the Nine Spirit Sacred Blood Pill, and celebrated the end of exams with his roommates. As their month-long vacation began, he asked them to use their influence to gather the pill’s ingredients.

• Xu Yi destroyed the Demon Kun with the Nine Star Flowing Fire Technique, and the giant eagle fled rather than challenge him.
• Xuan Lengyan sent Xiao Tang to deliver books on clothing and etiquette for Xu Yi to study, while his submitted Ding Wen still received no reply.
• Xu Yi searched the scripture library and found information on four more Precious Medicines, but found no trace of the Four Divine Blood.
• After the midterm graduation exams, Xu Yi joined his roommates from Dormitory 137 for a banquet as the academy began its month-long vacation.
• Xu Yi gave Jiang Fei, Duan Tiandai, Meng Wanzhou, and Tie Dagang a list of the Nine Spirit Sacred Blood Pill’s ingredients and asked them to gather them; Jiang Fei and Duan Tiandai then bet on who would collect more.

Xuan Lengyan ordered Xu Yi to accompany her to a birthday banquet as a distinguished young gentleman, and gave him a Two Realms Pearl as payment. Xu Yi retrieved two treasures, learned that Qiu Wa had been sent away to cultivate safely, and was forced to dress for the trip with Xuan Lengyan.

• Xuan Lengyan told Xu Yi he would play the part of a distinguished young gentleman at a birthday banquet and gave him a Two Realms Pearl.
• Xu Yi traveled east to a remote town, opened a black lacquered box with his gray badge, and took the two treasures inside.
• Xuan Lengyan told Xu Yi that she had found Qiu Wa a place to cultivate, and Xu Yi confirmed through the Ruyi Pearl that Qiu Wa was safe.
• Xuan Lengyan cut off Xu Yi's call with Qiu Wa and reminded him that she was his teacher and Qiu Wa's older sister.
• Xuan Lengyan asked whether Xu Yi had studied the clothing booklets, then made him change into the outfit she had brought.

Xuan Lengyan disguised Xu Yi as Young Master Yiling from the Ancient Lands and brought him to a birthday gathering on the Su family's island. There, Xu Yi met the refined Tao Jingsheng and the birthday girl, Su Xingchun, who challenged Xuan Lengyan to compose a poem.

• Xuan Lengyan dressed Xu Yi in fine clothes, crowned him, and told him to pose as Young Master Yiling from the Ancient Lands.
• Xuan Lengyan teleported Xu Yi from Minglun Hall to the Jade Pot Immortal Sea and brought him to the Su family's island.
• At the crowded birthday gathering, Xuan Lengyan introduced Xu Yi to guests while he tried to stay quiet and aloof.
• Tao Jingsheng greeted Xuan Lengyan warmly, and she introduced him to Xu Yi as a promising young talent.
• Su Xingchun interrupted Tao Jingsheng's invitation to sit with Xuan Lengyan, then challenged Xuan Lengyan to compose a poem.

At Su Xingchun’s birthday gathering, she challenged Xuan Lengyan to a poetry contest and used the result to threaten the Xuan clan’s reputation. Xu Yi stepped in with footage of his own, and the guests reacted in shock as he began to counter her scheme.

• Su Xingchun invited Xuan Lengyan to compose poems from paintings, and the guests judged Xuan the loser.
• Su Xingchun pressed Xuan to continue competing and threatened to spread footage of the contest, putting the Xuan clan’s honor at risk.
• Su Xingchun appealed to Tao Jingsheng for support, but he tried to calm both women instead of taking sides.
• Xu Yi stepped in to defend Xuan and revealed that he had a clip of the contest on a Ruyi Pearl.
• The guests erupted when Xu Yi activated the footage, while Xuan warned him that Su Xingchun was dangerous.

Xu Yi exposed Su Xingchun’s theft of his poems and challenged her to a contest to defend Xuan Lengyan. Su Xingchun completed a celebrated moon poem from a painting, leaving Xu Yi’s response pending.

• Xu Yi revealed that Su Xingchun had copied each of his ten poems, stunning the gathered crowd.
• Su Xingchun accused Xu Yi of using a secret art, and he challenged her for stealing his literary fame.
• Xu Yi said he had come to stand up for Xuan Lengyan and wagered that Su Xingchun would bow and apologize if she lost.
• Su Xingchun accepted a contest based on a painting, with Xu Yi agreeing to clear her name if she won.
• Su Xingchun wrote a poem about the bright moon that drew praise from the crowd, while Xu Yi remained silent.

Xu Yi exposed Su Xingchun for stealing his poem, forcing Tao Jingsheng to step in and challenge him. The chapter left Xu Yi facing Tao’s invitation to compete while Xuan Lengyan questioned the need for a contest.

• Xu Yi revealed an old booklet containing his poem, proving that Su Xingchun had plagiarized it.
• Xu Yi explained that he had recognized the poem from a placard and that he had written it years earlier.
• Tao Jingsheng claimed Xu Yi had used divination, easing the tension and giving Su Xingchun a way to save face.
• Xu Yi rejected Tao Jingsheng’s defense and demanded that Su Xingchun honor her wager.
• Xuan Lengyan stood beside Xu Yi, while Su Xingchun urged Tao Jingsheng to compete in her place.
• Tao Jingsheng challenged Xu Yi to take the field, and Xu Yi had not yet answered.

Xu Yi challenged Tao Jingsheng’s reputation by competing with him in poetry, then stunned the gathering with a modern poem that surpassed Tao’s work. Tao admitted defeat, and Xu Yi invited Xuan Lengyan to leave with him.

• Xu Yi challenged Tao Jingsheng to a literary contest and chose a painting of a towering tree amid brambles as their subject.
• Tao Jingsheng wrote a new-style poem that drew fervent praise from the crowd, while Xuan Lengyan urged Xu Yi to answer with a classical poem.
• Xu Yi dismissed Tao Jingsheng’s poem and wrote his own poem about two trees standing together in love.
• The hall fell silent as the crowd reacted emotionally to Xu Yi’s poem, and Tao Jingsheng admitted that he had lost.
• Xu Yi invited Xuan Lengyan to go somewhere else with him.

Xu Yi defended Xuan Lengyan from Su Xingchun’s taunts by revealing her Purple Quality Badge, leaving the crowd stunned by her achievement. The Dan Book confirmed that Xuan Lengyan had co-authored a rare Supreme Text praised by three Founding Elders.

• Su Xingchun received congratulations for publishing her sixth fixed text, while Xuan Lengyan and Xu Yi tried to leave.
• Su Xingchun mocked Xuan Lengyan’s lack of published work and suggested that her uncle had made her a vice dean through favoritism.
• Xu Yi stepped between Su Xingchun and Xuan Lengyan, then placed a Purple Quality Badge in Xuan Lengyan’s hand.
• Xu Yi used Xuan Lengyan’s blood to prove the badge was genuine, silencing Su Xingchun’s accusations.
• Su Xingchun and the crowd found Xuan Lengyan’s Supreme Text in the Dan Book and learned that three Founding Elders had commented on it.

Xu Yi used his Purple Quality Badge to force Su Xingchun to flee, then explained to Xuan Lengyan why he had made her the lead author of his Supreme Text. Xuan Lengyan accepted the badge and the prepared instructions, while their master-disciple relationship grew more familiar and she pressed him about the poem “To the Oak.”

• Xu Yi invoked Golden Core Society rules and threatened to report Su Xingchun, who spat blood and fled.
• Xuan Lengyan accompanied Xu Yi to a quiet spot and guessed that he had listed her as lead author to shield himself from the status and attention brought by the Supreme Text.
• Xu Yi explained that the Golden Core Society had promoted his essay to the Dan Book and awarded it a Purple Quality Badge and a Black Quality Badge.
• Xuan Lengyan accepted the Ruyi Pearl containing instructions for the award ceremony and teased Xu Yi when he suggested ending their master-disciple relationship.
• Xuan Lengyan asked Xu Yi who had written “To the Oak,” while he silently blamed Qiu Wa for sharing the secret.

Xu Yi helped Xuan Lengyan send Tao Jingsheng away and explained his motives, then bickered with her about their teacher-disciple relationship. Their exchange ended when Uncle Nine suddenly appeared beside Xuan Lengyan.

• Xu Yi sensed Tao Jingsheng approaching and vanished, leaving Xuan Lengyan to meet him.
• Tao Jingsheng tried to explain why he had sided with Su Xingchun, but Xuan Lengyan told him Su Xingchun had already visited.
• Tao Jingsheng left, and Xu Yi emerged to mock his performance and explain why mentioning Su Xingchun had driven him away.
• Xuan Lengyan struck Xu Yi for teasing her, then asked him to analyze Tao Jingsheng and explain how he had sensed his approach.
• Xu Yi and Xuan Lengyan resumed their argument, and Xu Yi disappeared just as Uncle Nine appeared beside her.